


Past Memories, Present Moments, Future Dreams

by CabbageOriley



Series: A Growing Pack [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-17
Updated: 2012-12-03
Packaged: 2017-11-18 20:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CabbageOriley/pseuds/CabbageOriley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part four of my "A Growing Pack" series!  Another collection of one shots showing the life of the ever expanding Hale pack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Speak Now

            Stiles always thought he would be excited on Laura’s wedding day.  He had always imagined himself and Derek walking her down the aisle and giving her away to the man of her dreams.  Yeah, he’d be bawling, but the tears would be happy ones.  He had it all planned out in his head; the flowers, the music, the reception, everything… This is **not** how he had planned.

            First of all, it’s an outdoor ceremony.  His baby’s wedding was supposed to be in a church!  It’s all wrong.  Weddings are supposed to be in churches!!!  Why would she do this to him?

            Second, the wedding planner must have been color blind.  Laura is wearing blue and white, her husband to be is wearing blue and red, and none of the bridesmaids match.  The flowers are green and white- little puffy balls that look like white clover.  Everything is a hodgepodge of colors.  He definitely should have been involved in choosing the color palate… or Lydia.  Lydia could have planned it all.

            Third, isn’t the bride supposed to be shorter than the groom?  Laura’s a whole head above him.  What an odd looking couple they are.  Plus, he’s not even a werewolf.  Stiles shouldn’t care about that, but it must be an alpha thing.  He’s been around Derek for too long.

            But worst of all, he wasn’t even invited.  He wasn’t even invited to his daughter’s big day.  She… why wouldn’t she invite him?  Actually, none of the pack was invited.  Stiles doesn’t recognize any of the guests.  The only two people he knows are Laura and Franklin.  He still doesn’t see what she sees in him.  He doesn’t even have a job!  Stiles’ baby girl is marrying a bum.  He doesn’t have a job.  He doesn’t have a car.  He doesn’t have anything to offer her.

            That’s it.  Stiles has his mind made up.  He will **not** allow his daughter to marry this guy.  He gets out of his Jeep and stomps across the street toward the field.  It’s quite a walk, but he finally gets close to the group and hears the minister say “you may now kiss the bride.”

            Oh no.  It’s too late.  Crap.  They’re leaning into each other.  They’re getting ready to kiss.  He is not letting this happen.  His girl has no idea what she’s doing.  This is a mistake.  He has to do something to stop it.  This can’t be happening.

            Just before their lips meet, a high pitched squeal rings through the air and the entire wedding party jumps up and begins running through the field.  Stiles watches the scene in amazement.

            “Oh thank God!” he yells as he collapses onto his knees in relief.  He stays there for a moment not having the strength to stand.

            “Daddy?”

            Stiles looks up and sees Laura looking at him.

            “Daddy, what are you doing out here?”  Laura stares at him strangely.

            “I should ask you the same question.”  Stiles states as he stands and puts his hands on his hips.

            “It’s recess,” the little girl huffs.  “I’m supposed to be out here.”

            “Actually, recess is over.  You’re going to be late to math.”  He takes her little hand and walks with her back toward her second grade classroom.  They talk as they walk.  “I thought you said boys were icky.”

            “They are.  We were just pretending.”

            “Well, no more pretend weddings until… ever.  Don’t do that.  You’re too young to be kissing boys.”

            “Okay, Daddy.”  She tugs him down so she can hug him and then runs into the school with some of the other dawdling children.

            Stiles sighs in relief.  That was close.

 


	2. Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get into a fight.

            Logan and Nathan are little rascals.  They’re always fighting with each other.  Their personalities are polar opposites, and they get on each other’s nerves constantly.  This time they’re fighting over which toy belongs to whom.  Both of them tug at the stuffed animal and refuse to let go.  Logan growls at Nathan.  Nathan growls at Logan.  Neither one is going to let the other one win.

            “Boys, stop it.”  Derek huffs as he tries to break them up.  He uses his best commanding voice, but neither of them listens.  “Stiles, a little help?”

            Stiles walks into the play room and bends down.  “Guys, stop.  Let go.”  He tries to get the toy out of the two year olds’ hands, but they growl at him, too.  “That’s not nice.  No growling at Daddy.”

            “You take Logan, and I’ll take Nathan.”  Derek suggests.

            “Oh no.  You know I can’t handle Logan.  He’s too…”

            “Too much like you?”  Derek laughs.

            “Well…  You never take Nathan because he’s too much like you!”  Stiles smiles.

            It’s true.  Logan is exactly like Stiles, and Stiles can’t handle it.  He doesn’t know how to deal with him.  How did his dad ever raise him?  Nathan is exactly like Derek, and Derek can’t handle him either.  It’s just too much.  But, Stiles and Derek have spent years learning how to handle each other, so it is easy for Stiles to handle Nathan and Derek to handle Logan.

            They each grab their respective twin and pull them apart.  The boys growl furiously, but the toy finally falls from their grasps.  When they see it fall to the ground, they burst into tears.

            “Derek, this is ridiculous.  Next time, we’re buying two toys so they each have one.”

            “Fine.”

            Eventually, after promising them curly fries and coloring books, Derek and Stiles get their boys to stop crying.

Everything looks like it is going fine until Logan crawls over and picks up the toy again.  He sticks out his tongue to mock his brother.  That does it.  Nathan charges him and attacks.  He tries to scratch Logan, but his nails are short and rounded.  Nathan attempts to bare his teeth like he has seen Derek do, but Logan just giggles.

            Stiles and Derek run back into the room when they hear Logan’s scream.  They find Nathan with his teeth clamped into his arm.

            “No biting!  Nathan, bad boy!  No!”  Stiles pulls Nathan off of him and holds him back.

            As soon as the teeth are out, Logan’s arm begins to heal.  Derek soothes him and wipes his tears away as Stiles reprimands his brother.  The twins glare at each other when their parents aren’t looking.  This time it’s Nathan’s turn to stick his tongue out.


	3. What if I wanted to break?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humans don't last long in a wolf pack without getting hurt.

            The crunching sound of bone breaking is the worst sound Stiles has ever heard in his life.  He screams Nathan’s name as loud as he can and races toward him.  It all happened so fast.  One minute the twins are playing on the porch; the next they’ve fallen off into the bushes below.  Derek knew they should have blocked it off some way while they were expanding the house, but it’s too late now.

Stiles is pulling Nathan up into his arms as Derek charges onto the scene.  Nathan’s face is red and his screams could be heard a mile away.

“His arm’s broken, Derek.”  Stiles is shaking.

            “Don’t panic.”  Derek wades into the bushes and pulls Logan out.  He’s fine.  They knew this day would come.  Humans don’t last long in a wolf pack without getting hurt.  “We’ll get him to the hospital, and he’ll be fine, babe.  He’ll be okay.”

            Stiles tries to comfort him, but he won’t stop crying.  He doesn’t blame him; his little arm is clearly broken.  Stiles knows how bad that hurts.  He gets into the passenger side of the car as Derek loads Logan up in the back seat.

            “Shhh, it’ll be okay, Nate.  I know it hurts.  I know…”  Stiles holds his hand on Nathan’s arm and tries to take some of the pain away.  It helps a little, but he continues to wail.

It only gets worse when Logan tries to get out of his seat and get closer to his brother.  Derek has to stop the car and strap him back in before they continue to the hospital.  It’s so sad to see Logan reaching out and making grabby hands to his brother.  Now they’re both crying.

            When they get to the hospital, Stiles hands Nathan to Derek.  He can see a piece of the bone sticking out of his arm.  It’s bleeding, and he feels like he’s going to pass out.

            “Stiles, breathe.”  Derek cautions.  Stiles looks at him and nods, but he’s pale and shaking.  Derek doesn’t really want to leave Stiles alone like this, but he has to follow the nurse down the hall to the emergency room.  Luckily, he sees Stiles’ father talking to Melissa at the nurses’ station.  “Mr. Stilinski!”

            “What happened?!”  The sheriff rushes over and walks down the hallway beside Derek.  He can see the panic in the young man’s eyes.

            “He broke his arm.  He’ll be fine, but I don’t think Stiles is.  Will you go sit with him?”

            “Yeah.”  He turns around and looks down the long hall to see if he can see his son.  He places a soft kiss on his grandson’s head before hurrying down to Stiles.

            “Dad!” Stiles says as he sees his father charging down the hallway.  “What are you… I…  Nathan and… and his arm…”

            “Stiles, stop it.  You have to calm down.”  He pushes Stiles down into a seat and kneels on the floor in front of him.  “Breathe.”

            He tries to breathe, he really does, but his body isn’t cooperating.  It is like his throat closes up each time he tries to inhale and pushes all the air back out.  His vision is getting spotty, but he can see his step-mom pick Logan up and take him to the nurses’ station to show him off to her co-workers.

            Mr. Stilinski hates seeing his son like this.  Teary eyed, pale, and gasping like a fish out of water.  “Look at me.  Look at me, Stiles.”  He lifts his son’s head up so that their eyes meet.  “Breathe.”

            “I’m gonna pass out.”

            “No, you’re not.  Just look at me.  Breathe in.”  The sheriff takes a deep breath, and Stiles tries to copy him.  “And out.  Good, keep going.  In and out.”

            It takes a minute, but Stiles finally stops panicking.  His father is sitting beside him now.  Stiles turns to look at him.  His eyes are full of guilt and tears.  “I’m a terrible father.”

            Mr. Stilinski laughs softly.  “No, you’re not.  It was an accident.  Accidents happen.”

            Derek eventually comes back out into the waiting room and sits down beside his mate.  They hold each other’s hands as they wait for Nathan to get out of surgery.


	4. Healing

            Nathan is groggy from the anesthetic and pain killers for the rest of the day.  They get to take him home that evening.  He lies on the couch for a couple hours.  Stiles tucks him into bed after giving him a dose of Tylenol.  Both Stiles and Derek kiss him on the head and leave the room.

            Logan whimpers as he lies in his blue racecar bed.  He sits up and finally makes the decision to crawl out of bed.  He sneaks over to the red racecar bed and stares at his brother.

            “Nathan?”  He reaches out and pokes his cheek.  “Bubby?”

            Nathan growls his best little growl as he opens his weary eyes and looks at Logan.  It’s too dark in the room for him to be able to see him clearly, but he knows it’s his brother anyway.

            “I’m sawey” Logan lisps as he starts to cry.  “Still love me?”

            Nathan rolls his eyes just like Derek and nods his head.  “Umhum.”  He knows that Logan didn’t purposefully pull him off the porch.  He had started to fall and had latched onto his brother for help.  Too bad Nathan wasn’t strong enough to hold them both up.  Even though his arm hurts, Nathan moves over in the little bed to make room for his brother.  Logan eagerly climbs in and clings to him.

            When Stiles finds the two of them lying like that, he runs back to the bedroom to get Derek’s camera.  It’s adorable and he has to capture the heartwarming moment while he can.  It won’t be long until they act like they hate each other again.


	5. Gone Fishing

            “Do you want to go fishing?”

            Derek looks up at Mr. Stilinski with a shocked expression on his face.  “What?”

            “Do you want to go fishing?”

            Derek thinks it’s really weird to be asked that.  He and the sheriff have a pretty good relationship, but they’ve never really done anything together; especially anything where it’s just them.  “I…”

            “Oh, stop looking at me like that.  I’m not going to take you out and shoot you.  Trust me, if I’d wanted to do that, I’d have done it long before now.  Back when you used to sneak into my son’s bedroom at all hours of the night.”

            Derek can’t help but blush a little.  “Sure, yeah, I guess I can go.”

            “You have been fishing before, haven’t you?”

            “I’ve been a few times with… with my dad.”  Derek turns away from the sheriff.

            “Well, now you’re going with me.”  He claps Derek on the back.  “Be ready at 5am.”

 

            The alarm clock goes off at 4:30, and Stiles moans.  Derek yawns, but gets up anyway.

            “Why’s he taking you fishing?”  Stiles sleepily asks.

            “I don’t know.”

            “He’s never even taken me fishing.  Why are you so special?”

            “I don’t know.”

            Stiles rises up in bed, folds his legs up, and rests his arms on them.  There’s a playful grin on his face.  “You’re excited, aren’t you?”

            “No.  Why would I be excited about waking up at 4:30 in the morning and spending a day away from my family?”

            “I dunno.  You just look excited.”

            “I’m not excited.”  Derek walks over to Stiles and kisses him.  “Go back to sleep.  I’ll call you if I ever find reception.”

            “Love you.”

            “I love you, too.”

 

            Mr. Stilinski forces Derek to wear this ridiculous fishing outfit that only fly fishermen in the wilds of Montana would consider stylish.  The alpha walks out of the house with a scowl plastered across his face.

            “Oh, don’t be such a grump.  This is fun.  We’re going to have fun.”

            Derek doesn’t have fun.  He had expected to go sit by the side of a pond and wait for something to tug on the fishing line.  Instead, they’re in a boat.  Mr. Stilinski calls it a ship, but it’s not a ship.  It’s a rickety old boat with a few plugged up holes in it and peeling white paint.

            They’re on that stupid “ship” all day long.  Neither of them catches any fish.  It’s fairly late when they pull the boat back up on shore.

            “You sure didn’t talk very much today.”  Mr. Stilinski starts to speak.

            “I’m not much of a talker.”  Derek admits.

            “Would have never guessed that,” the sheriff laughs.  “You know I don’t hate you, right?”

            “Yeah, I know.”  Derek shrugs.

            “I’m serious.  I don’t hate you.  You’re like the ex-criminal son I never wanted, but got anyway and love dearly.”  Derek looks up at Stiles’ father with shock and confusion on his face.  “Yeah, that’s right.  I love you.  I don’t know why, but…”  He smiles when he sees Derek laugh.  “Stiles loves you, and you love him.  You’ve given me three beautiful grandchildren, and you love them more than anything else in the world.  You’re a great husband, a great father, a great son.  I’m glad you’re a part of my family.”

            “You consider me to be your son?”

            “Absolutely.  I’ve just never really known how to tell you.  We have a fairly civil relationship, but you’ve always been pretty distant.  We don’t really ever talk.”

            “I thought you just tolerated me for Stiles’ sake.  I felt awkward.  You should hate me for so many reasons.  You’ve arrested me before.”

            “Twice.”

            “I bit Stiles, and he almost died.  I got him pregnant.”

            “Also twice.”

            “I dragged him and everyone he knows into this whole werewolf thing, and you don’t hold it against me?”

            “Not anymore.  Everything you did has led up to the amazing life Stiles has now.  Stiles is happy.  I’m happy.  And you’re my son whether you like it or not.”


	6. Renovations and Aviation

            The pack has been working on the Hale house renovations for quite a while, and now it’s finally done.  Derek only got hit by a board once, and Stiles only hit his hand with the hammer a few dozen times.  Scott nearly fell down the stairs once but was able to catch himself.

Derek remembers helping his dad build part of the original house, and now his pack is helping him.  He thinks it is special to live in a house where everywhere you look you can see the handiwork of a loved-one.  On the day they finished, everyone carved their initials into the frame of the front door.  They’ll always remember building this place together.

            They had to cut down a lot of the trees, but now the house is big enough for all of them.  Each family has their own wing of the house, but they kept the common kitchen and living area.  The pack celebrates finally getting finished with the house by having a pizza party.  It’s nothing much, but it’s fun because they’re all together.

            All of the kids play in the living room while the adults finish eating.  Little Alexis Whittemore is growing up so fast!  Laura is currently pushing her around in a big plastic car as Logan and Kierstan chase after them pretending to be monsters.  Nathan mopes along with them just to be included, but can’t do much because of his broken arm.  It’s healing, but the cast is pretty bulky.  He got mad at Logan once because he wouldn’t be quiet, so he swung his arm around and hit him with the cast.  Logan screamed, but Nathan was the one who began to cry.  It hurt his arm worse that it did his brother.

            After everyone has finished eating, they come into the living room to be with the kids.  Jackson bends down and swoops Alexis into the air.  She squeals with delight as he runs with her and she gets to pretend to be an airplane.  As he runs past the pack members, they pretend to duck just in the nick of time.  Lydia isn’t paying attention when it is her turn to duck, so Jackson lets Alexis’ hands smack into the back of her head.

            “Ouch, Jackson!”  Lydia complains, but he isn’t listening.

“CRASH!!!”  Jackson yells, and his daughter makes an explosion sound.  “We’re going down!!”  He spins around in circles and shakes his daughter up and down.

            “You’re going to make her dizzy,” Lydia warns.

            “We’re losing altitude!  Complete system failure!”

            “Ohhh noooo!!”  Alexis giggles.

            “Get ready for impact!”

            Alexis pulls her arms in and covers her face with her hands.  Jackson leaps into the air and lands with a thud on the couch.

            “You are such a child.”  Lydia rolls her eyes even though she thinks her husband’s interactions with their child are amazing.

            “Ooh ooh ooh!  Me next!  Me next!”  Logan screams.

            “Whoa, hold up a second.  Next flight isn’t for another twenty minutes.”  Jackson pants.

            “Boyd will do it,” Erica offers as she eases herself into a chair.  (Their baby boy isn’t due for a few months.)

            “Uncle Boyd!!!!  Me next!!!”  Logan pleads.

            “No, me!!”  Nathan whines.

            “Both of you, come on.”  The twins run to him, and he picks one up in each arm.  “Now departing Beacon Hills… next stop, Atlanta!”

            “Show off!”  Jackson jokes as Boyd begins to run around the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me requests if you have any!!! Thanks for all the comments!!!


	7. Happy Birthday to You

            “Your birthday’s coming up isn’t it?”  Mr. Stilinski asks when he and Derek are alone one day.

            “Yeah, this Saturday.”

            “Well, I have something for you.”  He turns and pulls a box out of the closet.

            “Should I be scared?”

            “No, this isn’t one of those gag gifts Stiles always gives people.”  The sheriff sighs and looks at the box in his hands.  “I was in the evidence room last week.  We were trying to clean out some of the boxes from the closed cases.”  He hands the gift over to Derek.  He can see the young man swallow hard before opening it.

            Derek can’t speak.  He pulls out his father’s watch and holds it in his hand.  He sits it down on the table and reaches back into the box.  Some of them are burnt and blackened, but there is a whole stack of family pictures, at least fifty of them.  Crying makes him look weak, but he can’t help it.  He clears this throat and looks up at his father in law.  “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome.”  Mr. Stilinski pulls him up and hugs him.  “I don’t know why they didn’t release it to you earlier, but you have it now.”

            “You don’t know how much this… this means to me.”  Derek sniffs and wipes his eyes.  “Thank you so, so much.”

            “I wish there was more.”

            “No, this is good.  This is great.”  He starts flipping through the pictures.  There are photos of his dad, of his mom- wow, she was beautiful-.  There are pictures of him and Laura and their younger siblings and cousins.  “Uncle Peter looks so happy in this one and that… that’s a group picture of everyone on Thanksgiving.”

            Derek doesn’t realize he’s speaking all of his thoughts aloud until he sees the Sheriff’s face.  There’s a pleasant look on it.

            “Look’s like you’re quite the talker after all.”


	8. War Paint

            “That is so unfair,” Stiles complains as he lies on the floor with the pack children.  “How can you be better at this than I am?”  He looks down at his finger-painted paper and frowns.

            “It’s okay, Daddy.  You just don’t have the natural talent that I do,” Logan smiles.

            Stiles feigns shock, and Derek laughs.  The alpha slides off the couch so he can sit on the floor with the kids.  Laura tries to hand him a piece of paper, but he shakes his head and nicely refuses to take it.

            “Oh come on, Dad.  You know you want to.”  She waves the paper around in front of him.  She stares intently at him and mouths “You want to.  Yes, yes, you want to.”

            Derek takes the paper, and Laura smiles.  She scoots the finger-paints over to him, and he dips his finger into the paint.  He spreads it over the paper and starts to dip his finger into another color.  Kierstan gasps and waves her hands in the air.

            “Stop!!!!”  Everyone watches her as she panics.  “You have to use a different finger.”

            Derek looks at Stiles with mischievous eyes.  He turns back to Kierstan and lets his eyes glow.  “Make me.”

            Kierstan’s eyes grow wide, and she looks around wildly for her daddy.  She finally sees Scott and stares at him in panic.  He nods his head toward Derek.  “Go on.”

            “But, but he’s the alpha,” she whispers.  Scott lifts his chin toward Derek and smiles at her.  She turns around and wipes her fingers clean.  She slowly raises her head and glares at her alpha.  Kierstan, then, charges toward him with all her might.

            Derek easily catches her and grins.  “Too predictable.  Try again.”  He gently tosses her back and gets ready for her next attack.  He’s focused on her, but not focused enough to not notice his daughter whispering a plan to her brothers.  He pretends to not hear what she’s saying.  Derek stands, and Kierstan lunges.  He catches her again, and after a few more attempts she gives up.

            “Maybe next time,” Derek says as his young twins lower into position behind each of his legs.  Isaac raises his hand and starts to warn him, but Derek knowingly shakes his head.  He slowly walks back and pretends to trip over Nathan and Logan.  He lands on the hard, wooden floor with a thud.

            In an instant, Laura is kneeling on top of his chest and her little claws are digging slightly into his throat.  “Gotcha.”

            Even though he let her get him, Derek is so proud of her.  She’s definitely going to be the pack alpha one day.  She has all of his strength and cunning and all of Stiles’ intelligence and fearlessness.  He can’t believe he has such an amazing daughter.  He looks at her with “fearful” eyes and gulps.  “Yeah, you got me.”

            All the kids cheer as Laura stands up and triumphantly prances back to her artwork and starts to paint again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on writing two more chapters for this story and posting them this coming week. That will be the end for right now, but I'll leave the series open and whenever I have another oneshot idea, I'll add it. So, if you have a request, go ahead and send it. I'll still be adding to this fic, just not as often. I don't think I could stand to ever completely "finish" this series and never add to it again. :) Thank you for reading and leaving comments and kudos!!


	9. Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is so late guys!!!! It's the end of the semester, and I've been super busy!! Papers, finals,... It's been crazy. I hope you like this new chapter! Maybe the last two chapters will make up for my two week absence! :)

            Nathan always gets depressed on the nights of full moons.  Everyone else in the pack is always out running and hunting, and it’s just not fair.  When he was younger, pack members would take turns controlling themselves to babysit him.  Laura was even anchored enough to take care of him a couple times.

            Now that he’s ten years old, his parents trust him enough to leave him alone.  He has spent the past few moons exploring every inch of the house.  One time he found his Uncle Jackson’s weight lifting equipment in the basement and lifted for a while.  His dads were furious when they got back home and told him over and over how he could get hurt.  Now Jackson keeps the weights put up so he can’t get to them.

            One full moon Nathan got into the library and tried to read some of the books.  Most of them were in some language he couldn’t understand so he put them away and moped until the pack got back.  He cried himself to sleep that night, and he’s doing the same tonight.

            Logan walks over and leans over him.  “Are you hurt?  Did you hurt yourself again?”  That just makes things worse, and Nathan cries harder.  Logan finally goes down and gets Derek who is still with the pack downstairs.

            Derek walks up the stairs and sits down on Nathan’s bed.  “What’s wrong?” he asks as he rubs his hand over his son’s back.

            Nathan turns so his face is pressed deeper into the pillow.  “Nothing,” he tries to growl.

            “Then why are you crying?”

            He chokes on his tears.  “I want to be worth something.”

            “What?”  Derek grabs his son and pulls him up in bed.  “You are worth something.”  He looks him straight in the eyes.  “You’re worth everything to me.  You’re my son.”

            Nathan lowers his head and mumbles.  “Your human son.”

            Derek sighs and starts to think.  “Come on, get up.”

            “Why?”

            “We’re going running.”

            “What?”  Nathan looks at his father strangely.

            “Get up and get dressed.  Me and you; we’re going running.”

            “But I can’t keep up.”

            “We’ve never given you the chance to try.  Come on.”

 

 

            When they first start running Derek goes slowly.  He speeds up as Nathan gets stronger and faster.  They run together every night for weeks and soon he is able to keep up (as long as Derek doesn’t push himself to go full speed).

            Nathan is eleven now and runs by himself most of the time.  He runs every night except for full moons (or so the pack thinks).  As long as he is back before everyone else is, no one will ever know.

            So, that’s why he finds himself alone at night in the middle of the woods on a full moon with something growling behind him.  He slowly turns around.  Those red eyes don’t belong to anyone he knows, and they’re attached to a monstrous looking wolf.  The thing is covered in hair and is stalking toward him.

            He remembers being told to never turn his back on an enemy, so he slowly backs away.  When the beast charges, he decides he’d rather die running than to die standing in place.  Nathan runs as fast as he can, but it’s dark in the woods, and he can’t see where he’s going.  His foot catches on an exposed root and he cascades down a hill.  Rocks and sticks fall with him, and he crashes with a thud at the bottom.

            His breath is knocked out of him, but, surprisingly, he isn’t severely hurt.  The werewolf is getting closer, and he just wants his dad to save him.  Suddenly, he’s in the air being whisked away.  He very thankfully clings to the strong arms that are wrapped around him.  As he looks up, he can see that his savior is the local vet.

            The creature is gaining on them, but Deaton skids to a stop and sets Nathan down.

            “What are you doing?!  Don’t stop!”  Nathan is panicking.

            Deaton grabs his arm to keep him from running.  “No.  Watch what happens.”

            “Are you crazy?!”

            “Watch.”

            The wolf is barreling toward them, and Nathan cowers behind the vet.  He can see that when the animal gets about eight feet in front of them it stops dead in its tracks.  It bends its head down to the ground and growls ferociously.  The animal is clearly an alpha, but Nathan can tell it has no pack.  It’s a rogue.  The alpha stalks around them but never crosses any closer to them.

            “What did you do?”

            “It’s mountain ash.  He can’t cross it.  No werewolf can.  Can’t even touch it,” Deaton explains.

            “How do we get out?”  Nathan watches as Deaton pulls a short stick out of his pocket.  It’s made of wood and has carvings etched into it.  He pulls out a pin and places it inside.  He puts the device to his mouth and blows.  The pin embeds into the beast’s skin, and it howls out in pain.  The sudden, vicious sound startles Nathan, and he falls down on his bottom.  The werewolf staggers and falls to the ground.

            “Run.”  Deaton pushes Nathan out of the circle, and he runs with all his might.  He doesn’t stop until he gets back home.

 

            It’s summer, so the next day Nathan slips away from the pack and makes his way to Deaton’s office.  He peaks through the window and watches.

            “Come in, Nate.  We’re open.”


	10. Work Your Magic

            No one notices that Nathan doesn’t come to supper sometimes.  No one notices that he has developed the habit of climbing in and out of his window late at night.  No one notices.  It’s not because they’re a horrible pack or because they don’t love him.  They’re an amazing pack, and everyone loves him with all their hearts.  It’s just that he’s always been quiet and off to himself (just like his dad), so the changes aren’t really changes at all.

            With Deaton, he has someone to talk to; someone that understands that humans can be powerful, too.  He’s been training with him for three years now, ever since Deaton saved him in the woods that night.  Nathan has learned a lot of things.  He knows all the ways you can use mountain ash.  He has all the types of wolfsbane memorized.  Sage can do this, and mistletoe can do that…  He’s read about werewolf legends from all over the world.

            Like most nights, he is making his way to the vet’s office.  He stops when he hears a roar.  He tries to listen, but he can’t hear much.  In the streetlight, he can see a large figure running out of Deaton’s office.  Once it’s gone, Nathan runs into the office.  There is blood everywhere, and Deaton is lying on the office floor.

            “Alan!”  Nathan runs to him.

            “Shh…  I’m fine.  I’m fine.  Go, Nate.  You have to warn your father.  The rogue’s back.  He wants the Hale territory.”  Deaton nods his head toward the door, and Nathan finally stands.  He slowly back steps to the door.  “Go!” he shouts, and Nathan runs.

 

 

            When Nathan storms into the Hale house, everyone looks up and stares at him.  He is panting and covered in dirt and blood.  Stiles is the first one to run to him.

            “What happened?!”  He checks over him to see where the blood is coming from.

            “There’s…” he gasps in air.  “There’s an alpha.  He’s going to try to kill Dad.”

            “What did he do to you?”

            “Nothing.  Dad, I’m fine.”  It’s harder to tell who the kids are talking about now that they think they’re too old to say ‘daddy’, but Stiles doesn’t think it’s the time or place to mention that for the hundredth time.  “We have to warn Dad.  It’s coming.  It already attacked Deaton.”

            “Deaton?” Scott asks.  “How did you find that out?”

            “I was there.  There was so much blood.”

            “Let’s kill this thing,” Laura states as she stands up.

            “No.  We can’t just run out and attack it.  It’s too strong.  It was strong enough by itself when it attacked me three years ago.  It has a pack now.  I saw their footprints at Deaton’s.  We need a plan.”

            “You’ve seen it before?  It tried to attack you?”  Stiles is even more panicked now.  “When?  When did it attack you?!”

            “Three years ago.  I was out on a full moon even after you told me not to, but that doesn’t matter now.  Dad’s in danger.”

            The pack’s attention turns to Derek as he charges into the house.

            “Are you okay?” he asks as he pulls Nathan into a hug.

            “Dad, there’s an alpha.  He has someone with him…”

            “There’re only three of them.  It will be okay.  We can take them.”  He looks at the pack.  “Scott, Boyd, Isaac, let’s go.”

            “No!  Dad!  Force won’t stop them.  I’ve seen it.  It’s… It’s not like you guys.  There’s something different.  It’s crazy.  It’s a freaking human sized wolf.  You…”

            “We’ll be fine.  We’ve taken down crazed alphas before.”

            “No, Dad, please.”

            Derek kisses him on the forehead.  “All of you stay here.”

 

            An hour later, the men come back bloodied and beaten.  They’re all alive and healing, but they’ve been hurt.  Stiles runs to Derek and hugs him tight.

            “Are you okay?”  Stiles kisses the bruises on his face and refuses to let go.

            “Nathan’s right.  It’s big.  Bigger than Peter ever was.”

            Scott lets go from hugging Allison and Kierstan.  “We got away, but they’re coming back.  They’ll be able to pick up our scent.  We have to think fast.”

            No one sees Nathan run out of the room.

 

            Derek and the betas form a plan and are ready to leave when the air begins to crackle.  Derek looks and sees his son finishing off a mountain ash barrier around the house.

            “What are you doing?!” Derek shouts.

            Nathan steps into the house.  “You’re going to get yourself killed.  That thing’s too powerful.”  He goes to the closet and pulls out a small box.  “Now it can’t get in, and you can’t get out.”  He starts to cross back outside.

            Derek grabs his arm.  “You’re a child, Nathan.  You don’t know how to take down an alpha.”

            “Dad did it with a lot less training than me.”  He looks over at Stiles.  “I can do this.”

            He pulls away from his father’s grasp and runs out into the night.

            “Nathan!”

 

            The pack spends the next twenty minutes searching for a way out of the house.  They finally find one through the basement’s hidden entrance.  Nathan covered that entrance too but there was just enough room to get a stick and swipe some of the ash away.  They run through the woods in the direction of the sound of the fight.

            Stiles gasps when he sees his son fly through the air.  Nathan lands wrong on his leg, but it doesn’t break.  The beast is on top of him before anyone can get to him to help.  It’s a horrible situation that is getting worse with every minute, but in the blink of an eye Nathan has swung his arm around and stabbed the alpha with a small knife that is covered in wolfsbane.

            The monster recoils and staggers back.  Nathan forces himself up on his hurt leg and lunges for the alpha.  He grabs onto the knife’s handle and forces it deeper.  With all his might he twists the knife until the blade breaks off.  The wound begins to smoke, and the wolf howls.  The two betas under the alpha’s control charge forward, but stop when an arrow whirls through the air.  The alpha collapses; dead from Laura’s expert shot.  Good thing Allison didn’t listen when Derek said not to teach anyone else how to shoot the crossbow.

            Derek, his daughter, and Boyd charge off to take down the two betas that have turned and fled.  Everyone else rushes to Nathan who is still lying by the hulk of the huge alpha wolf.  He jerks away before any of them can touch him.

            “Are you okay?”  Stiles looks over his son’s injuries.  He has a few scratches and bruises, and his leg is tender, but he isn’t severely injured.

            “I’m fine, Dad.”  He stands up and limps away from Stiles.  “Hold on.”  The young boy takes off his leather jacket and throws it on the ground.  He reaches into his pockets and pulls out a variety of blue and purple flowers and piles them onto the jacket.  He pulls off an amulet from around his neck and proceeds to wipe off the mountain ash symbols that were painted onto his arms.  He shrugs.  “Told you I could help.”

            Stiles steps forward and holds him tight.  “Don’t you EVER do something that stupidly brave again.  Do you hear me?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Logan runs to his twin and smacks him on the head.  “You scared the crap out of me…  but that was awesome!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for now guys. :) Thank you so much for reading my series! I'm taking a break from my "A Growing Pack" series for a bit, but the stories aren't completely finished being told yet! If you have any requests, please leave them in the comments! You haven't seen the end of the gang yet, I just need a little break. Keep an eye out for my other fics though. I have three that I'm working on now that should be completed while I'm on Christmas break! Woot woot! :)


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